Absence
by Gorsecloud
Summary: They say absence makes the heart grow fonder... and in the Wigglytuff Guild there is no denying that the disappearance of their two newest rookies is having a profound impact on the rest of the Guildmembers... - ST Verse -
1. Sunflora

Speechless

Oh...

O-oh my gosh.

I have to admit, I'm just speechless right now!

It's just... it's so shocking! Dusknoir just grabbed Team Calliope, right out of nowhere! It was such a sad goodbye, but when he just grabbed them like that... Eek! I still don't know what to think about it.

Nobody's been able to do much today. Chatot gave us our assignments, but nobody's felt like doing them, and Chatot himself just hasn't felt like making us. We're just sitting together, in the mess hall. Nobody's saying much... even Loudred is quiet, which is saying a lot, for him. It was dark before Chimecho remembered she was supposed to make us dinner.

I don't know what to do or think. We're all worried about those poor kids. And nobody knows what happened or why. I mean, the Great Dusknoir, why would he take them? They were always so sweet and absolutely adorable!

The only one who seems cheerful about anything is the Guildmaster, but... that just seems normal for him... he's always been a bit odd. Nobody really understands what's going on his head. But we still respect him, of course.

Oh my gosh... I just don't know what to do. What'll happen to Miranda and Chlora? I don't know what to do or to think.

I hope they're okay, wherever they are...

This is all too much today, with Dusknoir leaving and Team Calliope disappearing. Oh my gosh... I just don't know how to face tommorow, with things like this! But that's how the Guild works, I guess...

* * *

**Thus begins "Absence." There will be ten chapters, one for each of the Guildmembers. This fic is going to be short, with rapid-fire chapters that are about the length of this one. Some of them will have a clear sense of chronology, such as this one, which is supposed to take place the day everyone goes to the future. Others are a bit more broad. Anyway, hope you enjoy!  
**

**The next chapter, I believe, and will probably be up later tonight. **

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2 (c) Chunsoft  
**


	2. Corphish

Just Saying...

I think I was the first – and only – one to suggest maybe we do something. I was like, "Hey hey, why don't we do something, like maybe try to find a way to the future to get them back?" I was just saying, just trying to give the other trainees something to work at. But Chatot got all annoyed, saying that we didn't even know where to start.

I don't get what his problem is. Everyone's been so depressed and sad since those two disappeared to the future, and one thing everyone knows for sure is that it wasn't supposed to happen. So nobody's been happy. Sure, we do our training, but, it's like... no one really is in the mood, so no one really cares about what they're doing.

So what's the big deal about asking if maybe there was something we could do? It would make everyone in the Guild so much happier, thinking that there was maybe something we could do to get 'em back. When I first made the suggestion, everyone was all excited and we all were running to Wigglytuff and Chatot. We thought they would be behind us all the way...

But Chatot blew up at us, and Wigglytuff... I don't know what was up with Wigglytuff. None of us ever do. But while he didn't seem to think there was nothing we could do... it was like the Guildmaster expected them to come back. But I'm like, "Hey, hey, it's the FUTURE, how are they supposed to come back from there!?" But Chatot was still angry, so we just gave up. We went back to our daily training. Our boring, useless old daily training. I just don't get it. It wasn't like I was trying to cause trouble or anything.

I was just saying...

* * *

**I'd like to get at least one more chapter up tonight, which at the rate I'm going is perfectly doable. **


	3. Bidoof

**Warning... this chapter contains major spoilers from the first special episode from Explorers of the Sky (Bidoof's Wish). Read at your own risk. **

* * *

Wishes Gone Wrong

Oof... I didn't know what to think when the Great Dusknoir just grabbed Miranda and Chlora like that... I'm still not sure, really.

But... those two... they're my friends. They're the ones I wished for... I makes me get all upset to think of them, gone. I don't know what to do without 'em. When I made my wish... Jirachi said it wouldn't come true right away. But that it would eventually... and then finally, after so long... they came. Team Calliope.

Golly... I don't think I could have asked for better rookies. They were the best... no, better than anything I could have hoped for. At dinner, they would sit on the other side of Loudred, but I would still be trying to talk to them, to give them advice and just to have fun. And by golly, sometimes Loudred would get so tired of it that he would just switch places with me! We would laugh so hard at that.

I was so happy, so overjoyed, when they came. And now that they're gone... I'll admit I'm mighty scared for them... Are they in the future now?

I miss them so much... I miss talking to them at supper. I miss showing them around the guild and helping them with small things. I miss just knowing that they were there... It makes me so sad, all the time. After they disappeared, I would turn to talk to them after a long day, and then realize they weren't there! And golly, if that didn't put me off my supper!

All the time I think, why would Dusknoir want those two? Those two... they're so hardworking, and nice and friendly. It's why I was so happy when they came. They were always great about taking advice from me, even though I'm not the best mentor in all the Guild... But they never did anything wrong, so why would he take them to the future? Are they in some kind of trouble? Or does he think that they did something wrong?

And then I worry... what if they're happy there? What if they don't want to come back? I don't know what I'd do without them... This isn't what I wished for, for them to leave so sudden-like... I didn't even get to say goodbye...

But then I worry even more when I think... what if something's wrong? What if they're scared or upset, and they need help? I wished for them, so that I could help them, protect them and teach them all about exploring. But where they are now... I can't help them. Oof... I get so upset when I think about it like that... that I can't help them... they're somewhere I can't go... I feel like I've failed them. This is my fault... After all...

I'm the one who wished for them.

* * *

**Maybe one more tonight... We'll see. And I'm writing these a bit out of order, so some chapters may be faster to come up than others from here on out. None should take too long though. **


	4. Chimecho

Extra Food

In many ways, my job as the organizer of the Chimecho Assembly is easy. Team leaders will come up to me, tell me what they want, who they want me to summon for today's mission. It's all very straightforward, and even then it's only a morning job, which lets me cook dinner for everyone in the Guild in the afternoon.

So I've never had to face something like this. How do I tell Team Calliope's recruits what happened to their leaders? They've already guessed something is up. None of them have been called out for a mission in days. And I've already been asked more than once what's going on. Every time they ask, I don't know what to tell them.

How would they deal with it? Some of them would be heartbroken, I'm sure. Without Miranda and Chlora, Team Calliope would fall apart. Even if there were a suitable candidate among their recruits... there's always the fact that none of them are apprentices or graduates of the Wigglytuff Guild, which would restrict their ability to access the other members in the Assembly. It doesn't even feel right, anyway, to give up on Miranda and Chlora. So in the end, when they ask, I dodge the question, or say nothing. I know it makes them feel worse, but I don't know what to say.

Part of it is that I'm still having a hard time dealing with it myself. We don't know what will happen. We don't know if they're gone for good or if they'll ever be able to come back. The thing that makes us all afraid, me especially... is the idea that they're trapped in the future, forever.

Every night when I make dinner, I still make dinner for them too, in the vain hopes that I might someday need it if they were to suddenly return. Chatot's told me off for it, more than once. He's been more snappish and angry at everyone of late. But whenever he does... I point out quietly that our larders are stocked enough to accommodate two extra mouths who just aren't here right now. So the food would just be extra, or going to waste if I didn't make it.

So if this food is going to be going to go to waste anyway... I might as well try to make myself feel a little better before it does.

* * *

**This one was one of the more challenging ones to write. Chimecho isn't given quite as distinct a personality as some. **

**Next chapter should be up very shortly  
**


	5. Diglett

Feet Watching

I know a lot about feet. I look at them every day, from my position as sentry. I don't get a lot of practice out in the field, but I don't feel bad about it. Papa and I both fill very important positions in the Guild, after all.

Feet can tell a lot about a person. I can see their size and shape, so I can tell what they look like, what Pokemon they are, things like that. But that's just appearances. You can see so much of a Pokemon's moods just by how they walk. Like how when the have this strutting walk, when they feel proud of how they did. How they walk kind of stiff, when they have official business here. Or the sad, slow steps when they had a bad day or are really tired.

I suppose it's odd, to notice these things. But when you don't have anything else to do all day but look at feet, I suppose you start to notice special things about them. At least Pokemon don't make fun of me for it, the way they make fun of Papa some times for looking at the sea all the time.

But still... it's been two weeks since Grovyle was captured, and every day I look up, waiting and waiting. I remember Team Calliope's feet. I remember how scared Chlora was, the first time she stepped up onto the grate. Her feet were light and skittish, her footsteps quick, and she stood like she couldn't wait to jump off the grate when I was done. And Miranda. It hurt my pride, that I couldn't identify her feet for sure. But I tried like Papa always tells me to do, and I was right, in the end.

Everyone's been so upset and different that they're gone. It's hard to say what makes this different. I've seen apprentices graduate before. It doesn't happen often, but still. And the others never really got that upset for them. But I can tell this time it's different. I can tell by the slow, plodding footsteps when they come back every day, by the way Loudred always seems even more impatient at me, the way at dinner, the other Guildmembers just don't seem as bright or cheery. Last night Bidoof – Bidoof! - didn't even ask for a second helping.

I don't understand why, but I still wish I could help. So every day since they left, ever day I look up. And every day I hope to see six particular feet, to call out two particular names to Loudred and the rest of the Guild...

But every day I don't see them... I wish I didn't know so much about feet... so that I could make another mistake and they would be there.

* * *

**This was actually one of the first two chapters I wrote. Next chapter might take a little bit. It's one of two that I haven't yet written. **

**Enjoy!  
**


	6. Dugtrio

Dark Waters

The sea has never failed us before now. We used to seek its waters for solace in everything, for comfort, for enjoyment. We will not lie and say it has not earned us condescension from some, but they simply do not understand the true beauty the sea holds. The power to comfort, to inspire, to encourage and soothe.

But when we look out at the waters of the vast sea now, why does it not help? When we look out to see the waves, instead, we only see the faces of those who are missing. It defies our understanding. We weren't even particularly close to them, so why should their absence affect us so?

Perhaps it is simply by association... the rest of the Guild is sad and unhappy about their disappearance, so we are too. We are all like the sea. The sea is not split up into sections or segments. It is simply one whole, and when something affects one area, the sea changes as a whole.

We did not know Team Calliope well, but they are a part of the sea, and their absence affects us as much as everyone else. We are not a near part of the sea, so the effect is smaller, and slower, but it is there, undeniably.

Even when it doesn't provide comfort, the sea still provides understanding.

* * *

**Another one of the not-so-easy characters to write for... So I waxed metophorical.  
**


	7. Chatot

Facing Facts

I was and remain the sole Pokemon who ensures this Guild does not fall into insanity, and times like right now are tests of this role. And I'm simply at my wits' end. The Guild's morale of late has been at an all-time low, and I don't understand how to handle it.

The guildmembers all seem to be falling into a slow state of depression, all over your two newest recruits. Team Calliope: Miranda and Chlora, spirited, enthusiastic but occasionally unreliable. I understand the role that they have filled. They showed such promise for new recruits, making key breakthroughs in the expedition and the search for Grovyle. They were wonderful comrades to certain members, particularly the clumsy Bidoof. Which is why, for Pokemon such as him, I perfectly understand the lack of enthusiasm of late.

But for this previous month, it has taken every bit of patience I possess to try to spurn the Guild into any kind of action. Even the daily routines would be neglected without my interference. Some among the Guild, Corphish for instance – what nonsense, going to the future to try to bring Team Calliope back! - hold onto the hope that they will eventually return.

I think, however, it is time to face facts. It has been a month. If they were to return, they would have done it long before now. We must accept that Miranda and Chlora are not going to return.

Do not misunderstand and think that I don't care about those two. I do a very great deal, and do not like the idea that they are permanently gone any more than they. But unlike the others, I have the Guild's reputation to think about. This will damage it, to be sure. We've had apprentices desert before, of course, but none have ever... simply _disappeared_ during our training. But far more damaging would be a continuance of the dispirited attitude I have unsuccessfully been trying to dispell. We must continue to meet the high expectations that are set for us. Morale may be damaged in the short term, but in the long run, we will finally be able to move past this tragic occurrence.

We must face the facts. It is time... to put them behind us. It is time to move on.

* * *

**Thanks to ScytheRider for helping me out a lot with this chapter, and in multiple ways. And the whole fic, actually, but I'm going to save the more formal thank-yous for the end. **

**Speaking of which, every chapter has been written out. So now it's just posting!  
**

**Next is one that I expect a lot of you have been waiting to see.  
**


	8. Guildmaster Wigglytuff

Disillusionment

Chatot came to me, late in the evening. It had been nearly a month since Grovyle had been captured. The Time Gears had been returned and everything was back to normal. Everything, that is, except Team Calliope. But they would be coming back soon, wouldn't they? Dusknoir wouldn't be needing them too much longer.

"Guildmaster, I wish to speak with you, please," Chatot said.

"Sure!" I replied cheerfully, bouncing the Perfect Apple I had gotten earlier on my head and spinning around. It's always helped me listen and think, and sometimes, to stay awake.

"It's about Team Calliope," He said, and his voice was hesitant.

"Okay!" I hummed, spinning around and around. Team Calliope were still new, but they were already really good explorers, and good friends too. It made perfect sense to me that Dusknoir might need such friends in the future, to help take care of that nasty Grovyle for good. And since we were all friends, we shared and helped each other, right?

"S-so..." Chatot began awkwardly.

"Don't be so nervous!" I chided him, "There's nothing to be worried about!"

He took a deep breath. "Well... first of all, I would like to remind you that Team Calliope has been gone a month."

"What about it? They'll be back soon, right?"

"Well... urk...." I saw him wince in one of the flashes of him I saw as I span around and around, "I'd also like to remind you of the nature of where they are. The future is a place that is completely inaccessible place. We cannot even begin to fathom how we could reach such a place."

"Dusknoir will send them back," I replied simply.

"Yes, but" Chatot's voice became more and more harried, despite my earlier scolding, "Surely, time travel implies that Dusknoir could send them back at any time he so chose, easily within minutes of their disappearing, or a week at most, and yet he hasn't. Why would he cause the Guild unecassary stress and inconvenicne? There is no logical explanation. Therefore, we can assume that..." he stopped suddenly, his voice seeming to fail him. Then he took a deep breath and stammered quickly, "G-guildmaster... I think... it may be time... to consider the possibility that they may not... may not _be_ coming... coming back."

The Perfect Apple fell off my head, but for the first time that I could remember, I didn't run after it.

"Oh."

Miranda, and Chlora. Two of my friends. Guild apprentices. Never coming back.

_No,_ I told myself, _Nononononooooo!_

I didn't want to believe it. They... they were friends. Friendly friends! Why would they go away and never come back?! Why wouldn't Dusknoir send them back?! They had to come back! There had to be some way we could make sure they came back!

I began to sniffle, then to wail as the idea that they were gone seemed to become more and more real. Gone. Forever. Chatot fluttered around in panic, "G-guildmaster! Please! Please don't- Please don't get upset!!" But in the end, seeing that his words did nothing, he turned away and covered his ears.

I cried and cried and cried, as everything just disintegrated around me.

* * *

**One of the harder chapters to edit. A very hard character to get into the head of...**

**In other news, everything's set and ready to roll. The rest of this fic will be up before the night is out! 8D  
**


	9. Croagunk

Grieving

Ever since Team Calliope disappeared, I've gone back to bedding down right here in my shop. I figure Bidoof's already having a hard enough time going to sleep. Yes, I noticed, I didn't read that diary of his or anything. It's not that hard to miss how he would spend more and more time wandering the Guild at night whenever I tried to join him and Corphish and Loudred for the night. I just wanted some company, that's all. I never really understood why he was so uncomfortable around me, but then again, I get the feeling there are a lot of people that feel that way. Maybe it's my appearance, my laugh, or the fact that I'm a poison-type. I don't really get it, but that's life. Team Calliope had a bit of that problem too, but at least Chlora only seemed a little disconcerted at times, while Miranda just didn't seem to mind.

Still, it's a lot more lonely, out here in my shop. Not to mention it has the side effect of not being able to separate the work day from sleeping time at night.

And I tend to hear things more. Like when Chatot tried to talk to the Guildmaster about Team Calliope. I could only wonder what their conversation was about, but judging by the fact that it's been a month since Miranda and Chlora disappeared, and the Guildmaster's reaction, I'm guessing it had something to do with them not coming back.

Chatot immediately afterwards called the Guild out of their rooms, and that night, we all ended up sleeping in the meeting room, in order to comfort the Guildmaster, according to Chatot. I slept among the rest of the Guildmembers for the first time that night without feeling like I was making anybody uncomfortable or something. But at the same time, I kinda wish we hadn't. Seeing everyone there, so sad, huddled together in little groups, that was when it struck me.

We had given up hope. We were grieving.

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**Chapters 7, 8, and 9 were a sort of triad, each one leading into the other... This is probably the saddest of the three, but I think it has the strongest ending of the whole fic.  
**


	10. Loudred

Proven Wrong

I hated just GIVING UP like we were.

What gave Chatot the idea to tell us all that they would never come back anyway!? It just makes me so ANGRY. I've seen how upset and unhappy the other Guildemembers are. This will make things WORSE, not better. He's making some of them that still had hope lose all of it.

I KNOW it wasn't likely that they were going to come back. They've been gone for so long, and it IS the future. Maybe if WE had been able to help them, like Corphish suggested, we might have been able to actually GET them back. But since Chatot shot Corphish's idea down, there's probably NO way those two will be able to come back on their own. And now he's shooting down our hope as well. I mean, how LAME is that?

He wants us to come up with ideas, on how to HONOR their memory. It's probably the most depressing assignment we've EVER been given. The rest of the guys were discussing it, after our missions that evening. I was just so ANNOYED about it. I HATED how we were just giving up.

Then Diglett just started stammering, and I told him to just spit it out already.

Then he said two words that changed everything.

"It's Chlora!"

* * *

**This was without a doubt the hardest chapter for me to write. And while I'm satisfied with it, I'm not pleased. **

**I also know that as an ending, it's not very strong.... BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE.  
**


	11. Finale

Welcome Home

I didn't expect...

_Neither of us did._

Yes, neither of us, sorry. Neither of us... could expect how happy we were to be back. I mean, Grovyle and I had had to convince Chlora to even go back-

_With good reason. None of us knew what to expect. For all we knew Dusknoir might have come back and turned them against us._

But he didn't.

_No, he didn't..._

And though we had to convince the Guild we were telling the truth, it was worth it in the end.

_When Chatot kept telling us we had a bad dream, I didn't know what to say, what to tell him. I'm so glad the others stood up for us. Bidoof, Sunflora, even Dugtrio, who didn't believe us at first. _

And we had all of their unconditional support in the end. It just reminded me-

_Reminded _us.

Reminded _us_ how happy we were to be part of the Guild.

_And then our stomachs growled. _

You would have to bring that up, wouldn't you?

_Come on, Miranda, you have to admit, that when everyone started laughing – you included – it felt like home. Like we were finally back after a long journey. _

Which we were.

_Yes, I know. But the point is... you can't admit it wasn't like you didn't miss it. You were happy to be back. Our time away... made us realize how lucky we were to have friends like that. To have a place like the Wigglytuff Guild. _

Well... yeah. When I was in the future... I realized how much I missed being among them... having people who cared. And being back... it was like a wake up call, telling me that, you and me, even without Grovyle...

_We're not alone?_

Exactly.

* * *

**And so ends Absence. **

**This fic has been a very short but very wild ride. The attempts to capture each character's personality in the equivalent of a couple drabbles was quite a challenge, but a fun one.**

**Special thanks must go to ScytheRider, who supported me throughout writing this, and helped beta it. Without him, this fic, short as it is, would be very different, and certain powerful effects would be lost I think, so I owe him a lot for that. **

**And finally, I owe thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed. Your support is a huge part of what keeps me going.**

**If you enjoyed Absence, and have not yet read any of my other fics, I invite you to read the other fics in my Spanning Time collection of stories, including the titular Spanning Time, We Go On, and Berry Stains, among others. **

**Thank you very much for reading!  
**


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